RIYADH — A Canadian diplomat in Riyadh has played down the possibility of a diplomatic crisis after Canada refused to issue visas to Saudi men who were married to more than one wife and wanted to bring all their spouses into the country. The source told Al-Hayat newspaper that men are not allowed to enter Canada accompanied by more than one wife. He said this regulation applies to all families with multiple spouses, not just Saudis, and Canadian embassies all over the world enforce this measure. Commenting on this, First Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh Jeff Rogers said: “Polygamy is considered a crime in Canada but not a crime in Saudi Arabia. “It has become a common scene in Canada to see men accompanying more than one woman who come to the embassy applying for a study, visit or business visa.” He said he informed the officials at the Foreign Ministry in his country that a large number of Saudi men try to hide the fact that they are married to more than one woman. He said some of them circumvent the law by lodging an application at the embassy showing that they have one wife while the additional wives apply for entry visas separately. There are more than 15,000 Saudi students who receive their education in Canada in addition to 800 resident and consultant Saudi doctors who receive professional training in various medical specializations. The Sea News website quoted some Saudi officials at the Saudi Embassy in Ottawa as saying the Kingdom is considering the possibility of increasing scholarship students from 15,000 to 30,000. The Kingdom is considered the largest market for Canadian exports as Saudi Arabia imports goods worth 1 billion Canadian dollars and exports goods worth 2.8 billion Canadian dollars. — SG
